Top Chef: Season 3

[Kevin72]

I agree. Next week's season wrapup will be neat and I hope they do a "where are they now" for each member. I think most will benefit from their time on the show, most especially any of the top three, winner or not.

[Curlz]

The contestants said they watched the show so I think it ended some time ago and they had to wait to see who won?

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My understanding is that the finale was taped in Aspen and then they were off to Chicago within a day or three. Those on the set for the Aspen taping and the 3 finalists were sworn to secrecy regarding who did what and how it turned out. LIVE judge's table with the winner being announced was last night in Chicago. The contestants likely saw the taped show yesterday before the finale went live, and/or they were referring to the fact that the contestants were able to 'catch up' and watch the series during the 1-month break.

I was sorry that Dale didn't come from behind, but when Tom said the lobster dish was inedible, I knew he didn't have a shot. Still, it might be just as great/better to be the runner-up than the winner in this case. Here's to Dale's BIG future!

[chezcherie]

i think they should replace padma, who replaced katie-lee-awful, with casey next season.

[tmgrobyn]

Phew! Wow. I thought for sure I was going to be upset (again, as I seem to be the kiss of death when I root for someone) that Dale pulled it out at the last minute. Alas, Hung won and that is good.

As is has been said each of these chefs had their high points and low points along the way and each will be successful in their endeavors. Like Hung said, each has grown from six months ago in ways they could not describe as yet.

I loved the sous chef addition. It was very frustrating to see hard work punished by petty jealousy like in TC2. The ending certainly could have improved, please, dark shadows anyone???

Hung really seemed to turn his show around with the departure of Tre. He voiced the lack of competition when Tre was sent packing. I think he actually summed up the competition and barring any huge gaffs on his part TC3 was his to win. He then began to relax and find his groove. He played well with others last night and presented an excellent meal. Michelin 3 on the duck. Way to go Hung. I loved seeing the simplicity of plating, albeit the foam. Was that his homage to Marcel? Silly.

Still any three of these, and likely any 9 of the beginning 12, could throw Hell's Kitchen cheftestant winners under the bus and not look back. I'd eat anywhere these people work. TC3 is my fave so far.

Edited October 4, 2007 by tmgrobyn (log)

[Curlz]

Just read this on Serious Eats:

The contestants were kept in the dark for the past month or so, in preparation for 15 minutes of live TV from a dimly lit Chicago studio, which did not compare very favorably to the scenic grandeur of Aspen.

So I guess they had to wait a month, not a few days for the answer. CRUEL, imo.

[aliaseater]

All along I figured Hung deserved to win. Dale amazed me with his ability to screw up.

I would vote for Casey if this was the playboy channel, but...I don't think so.

As far as the studio goes: who was there? Everybody I knows was in the bar on the corner watching the cubs loose. ; )

[Dave Weinstein]

An excellent end to a redemptive season.

If we're very lucky, Bravo will do its best to pretend the second season never happened.

[glossyp]

It was clear from Honolulu last week how this would turn out - oneidaone's photo

[Slamdunkpro]

Random thoughts:

Can’t say I disagree with the winning choice even though Colicchio telegraphed it with his “you’re the best technical chef” remark last week.

Focus won this for Hung. He took the challenge “blow us away”; planned his dishes realistically, then executed them well, where as Casey had a blond moment and just scurried about willy nilly. Dale was just Dale; brilliant highs and dreckish lows.

I liked the guest Souse chefs in as far as no more drunks or vindictive sabotage, but then they throw that all out the window with the gimmicky addition of the 4th course with a side of deposed contestants. Don’t tell me that Howie didn’t flash back to his ménage-a-flop with Casey and Joey when she had immunity and totally let them twist in the wind.

At least Hung is head and shoulders above Ilan (Season 2) and possibly Harold from Season 1 as well.

Colicchio’s dessert knock on Hung was really petty and small, he either needs to leave or get into Padma’s stash.

What a laugh seeing Brian of all the fallen contestants at the judge’s table .They should have done that like a traditional holiday dinner; everyone at the “grown-ups" table and Brian, Gail and Padma at the "kid’s" table. I can almost see Brian offering a comment and Todd English remarking "Quiet, the adults are talking".

They need to ditch Padma for someone with a little personality, looks, and who can add some weight to the judge’s table. Hmmmm, Casey’s not really doing anything now……

It will never happen but, and TC producers I can’t say this with enough emphasis, Gail needs to go.

I understand the reasoning behind the live reveal of the winner (think Ilan) but what did they film it with???? A handy-cam and 3 60 watt light bulbs??

Overall this season was better than season 2 and on a par or slightly ahead of season 1.

[malarkey]

I hated, no loathed, the phony ending.  It reeked of ham handedness.  Did they take a cue from Food Network Star for that hokum?  It was so obvious and painful to watch.  Oh the suspense, oh the drama!  Spare me.

LOL All reality shows reek of this!

[Doodad]

I hated, no loathed, the phony ending.  It reeked of ham handedness.  Did they take a cue from Food Network Star for that hokum?  It was so obvious and painful to watch.  Oh the suspense, oh the drama!  Spare me.

LOL All reality shows reek of this!

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Is that you Brian?

What I really meant was not just the formulaic reality bit, but the last minute, change of plans, thrown together look and feel of this as compared to FN star when Jag was shown to be a liar. Both had an incomplete, unbelievable smoke and mirror feel complete with "This is Your Life" audience. Especially with the 15 minute tacked on. Bah, ok I am done.

[racheld]

The Wait/Wait/Tension/Tension of the past weeks teleported from the sunny slopes of luxurious Aspen into a high school auditorium, with the four popular kids sitting at the judges' table, ready to pass judgement on the three cheerleader wannabes.

The lighting and sound crew, imported from the school's Video Club, did total justice to the unrehearsed dialogue, the staged pauses, the artificially-enacted tension, and the exuberant leaps of the WINNAH.

The two also-rans, smiling bravely, courteously left the limelight to the victor. They have no idea what a great thing just happened to them and their careers last night. They will succeed; I'd scoot over to Chicago THIS MINUTE, much as I HATE those toll roads, if I thought Dale would be in the kitchen tonight.

And Dallas is PROUD of Casey, even before all this folderol.

[ChefCrash]

...supercrappy low rez it was telecast in. ....  The live segements looked out of focus/ lenses covered in vaseline.  Hello?  Was Ron Jeremy in the house?

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...but what did they film it with???? A handy-cam and 3 60 watt light bulbs??...

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And damn, but Padma looked better than ever last night. 

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[Ted Fairhead]

...supercrappy low rez it was telecast in. ....  The live segements looked out of focus/ lenses covered in vaseline.  Hello?  Was Ron Jeremy in the house?

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...but what did they film it with???? A handy-cam and 3 60 watt light bulbs??...

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And damn, but Padma looked better than ever last night. 

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Chefcrash, that's mean putting the quotes together like that. I like Padma!

(I must admit though, that I laughed out loud at your sneakiness!)

[KristiB50]

Quotes from the EW BLOG

As an audience member, I don't want to see great chefs do prep work. That's like having Tiger Woods caddy. I did hold out hopes for a twist, because when English emerged dressed in all black, I assumed that he was some sort of Chef Dark Lord and that we'd be in for some truly insidious sous-cheffing. But we didn't get so much as a clogged colander, let alone a complete takeover of the kitchen for nefarious purposes.

Here's something I found annoying: Right before every commercial break, the pretaped show would cut back to Padma live in the studio, and she'd announce that one of the finalists' friends and families were there tonight, and the crowd would applaud. And yet the cameras never ever actually cut to the friends and families. She did it three different times for the three different chefs, and each time, no visual aid. I started to wonder whether they were being held hostage: ''Casey's friends and family are backstage! And if Casey ever wants to see them again, she'll throw this contest by being a bit free with the cumin!''

[et alors]

I don't think anyone's mentioned Casey's amazing decency of admitted her best dish was 100% Howie. It hurt her, but at the same time I really admired her.

Nothing wrong with Dale that being forbidden to work with chillies and their derivatives wouldn't fix. I'm hyper sensitive-- I eat them and I get blisters. I suspect Dale is utterly immune, as his blunders seem to all involve them. I'm bummed about his loss for sheer drama reasons.. a cinderella story is more affecting than the obviously best chef winning.

As for Hung: a little part of me wished he'd kicked ass by doing the food he did all along, rather than give in to the bullying by the judges. That said, perhaps he did find a new style of cuisine that will take him to the next level. We've never seen that on top chef.

A finally note.. I have never seen a group of contestants work together so well to the very end. Casey used dale's lobster bits for stock, they planned courses together. I kept thinking how delighted Ramsey would be if these folks every graced Hell's Kitchen.

Overall a good season about COOKING which I loved.

[Josho]

Two thoughts on the outcome of TOP CHEF, SEASON 3.

Re: the Chicago thing: I was laughing out loud at poor, poor Marcel. He clearly truly hates the fact that he's white.

Re: Hung. So very disappointed that he won. It wasn't his arrogance about his cooking versus his competitors'. Rather, it was, throughout the season, his constant, baldly-stated contempt for his "consumers" (anyone eating his food). If a judge found his food incorrectly seasoned, it was the judge's own lack of acumen; it could not possibly be a mistake on Hung's part. If a consumer or group of consumers found his food lacking in some way, it was because they were too common, too limited to "get" him, too pedestrian for their tastes to have any validity.

Hung may've been the most technically proficient chef in the finale, but I wouldn't want to eat at his restaurant, because I'd always have the feeling that since I don't have my own Michelin star, I'm persona non grata in his dining room.

--Josh

[laurelm]

If we're very lucky, Bravo will do its best to pretend the second season never happened.

IA, third season was back to what I enjoyed about season one- cooking- (although season one is still my fav), I thought this finale lacked "oomph" and the live finale ending was lame...

I am glad Hung won, I thought he deserved to win, I dont think he was the bad guy that the show originally tried to edit him to be.

[BigboyDan]

Re: Hung. So very disappointed that he won. It wasn't his arrogance about his cooking versus his competitors'. Rather, it was, throughout the season, his constant, baldly-stated contempt for his "consumers" (anyone eating his food). If a judge found his food incorrectly seasoned, it was the judge's own lack of acumen; it could not possibly be a mistake on Hung's part. If a consumer or group of consumers found his food lacking in some way, it was because they were too common, too limited to "get" him, too pedestrian for their tastes to have any validity.

--Josh

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Hung was better than his judges, and because of that fact he should despise them... And most lifer cooks who've worked in high-end restaurants end up hating their patrons - the way that it is...

[317indy]

Re: Hung. So very disappointed that he won. It wasn't his arrogance about his cooking versus his competitors'. Rather, it was, throughout the season, his constant, baldly-stated contempt for his "consumers" (anyone eating his food). If a judge found his food incorrectly seasoned, it was the judge's own lack of acumen; it could not possibly be a mistake on Hung's part. If a consumer or group of consumers found his food lacking in some way, it was because they were too common, too limited to "get" him, too pedestrian for their tastes to have any validity.

--Josh

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Hung was better than his judges, and because of that fact he should despise them... And most lifer cooks who've worked in high-end restaurants end up hating their patrons - the way that it is...

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You do know that Chef Tom Colicio is a GREAT and I mean GREAT Chef right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Colicchio

[Josho]

Re: Hung. So very disappointed that he won. It wasn't his arrogance about his cooking versus his competitors'. Rather, it was, throughout the season, his constant, baldly-stated contempt for his "consumers" (anyone eating his food). If a judge found his food incorrectly seasoned, it was the judge's own lack of acumen; it could not possibly be a mistake on Hung's part. If a consumer or group of consumers found his food lacking in some way, it was because they were too common, too limited to "get" him, too pedestrian for their tastes to have any validity.

--Josh

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Hung was better than his judges, and because of that fact he should despise them... And most lifer cooks who've worked in high-end restaurants end up hating their patrons - the way that it is...

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Well, I haven't seen any indication that Hung was better than his judges, but if, at this young age, he as as filled with loathing for the people eating his food as the "lifers" you refer to, perhaps he ought to consider retiring soon.

--Josh

[BigboyDan]

Hung was too good for the show, ask Rocco. If you worked in a kitchen, you'd know that the food is everything - we put up with bad personal behavior just to eat the food. Cooks, gladly, work like slaves in kitchens with Sous Chefs like Hung.

It's the food.

Colicchio may be a great chef, but Hung's better - just younger.

Edited October 5, 2007 by BigboyDan (log)

[SundaySous]

Be interesting to see the production credits on this one. As in which names are not there that were in every other episode.

As a Chicagoian it's kind of insulting to see the lack of effort put forward. Blame it on what you have to work with? How lame is that?

[David Ross]

As far as the cooking and the dishes presented by the chefs, I think the finale was the best episode of Top Chef I've seen. I said the cooking and the dishes presented, not all that gooey shtick and other fluff the producers threw in.

I thought the gunk the producers added in was unnecessary and interferred with the flow of the show. So let me get that gunk cleared from the kitchen drain first.

I didn't think it was necessary to have the 'celebrity' chefs in the kitchen helping with the prep. I don't think Bravo announced in advance that they were going to showcase three 'celebrity' chefs on the finale. If they had, it might, just maybe, have gained them a few more viewers.

But since I don't think Bravo announced the 'celebrity' chef element in advance, I doubt the general viewing public cared much that Todd English stepped out of a gondola on top of a mountain. Other than a few cursory comments from English, Rocco and Michelle Bernstein, I didn't think their presence in the kitchen added much to the show. I did however appreciate their comments on the tasting panel.

I think we all knew that Top Chef would bring back a few of the eliminated chefs, so that was not a surprise at all. I think Howie, Sara and CJ actually added more support than the celebrity chefs. That was probably due to the fact that the celebrity chefs were restricted from doing much other than showing for appearances sake and to make a few comments. Howie, CJ and Sara seemed to really step in and offer support in terms of ideas for the 4th dish and support over the stove.

I thought the 'live' ending in Chicago was a joke. In fact, I've watched the show twice now and I still haven't seen or heard a mention that they were 'live' from Chicago. I didn't get the point of moving the finale to a city for the last 5 minutes of the show.

But on to the cooking and what I thought in general were very creative, well-executed dishes. But as I've said all season, it's pretty hard to critique a chef's dishes without tasting the food, so my opinions of the dishes are far from accurate since I didn't have the pleasure of dining at the Aspen Club.

Casey was obviously rattled from the start. Did you catch that interaction with Casey and Michelle Bernstein when they were standing in the pantry area? I thought Casey sounded like she had just smoked some wild Colorado weed! Man her sentences were disjointed and she was speaking in broken English. I couldn't tell what she was thinking-and I don't think she knew what she was thinking or saying. As a result, her scatter-brained approach to the finale showed in her scattered dishes with too many ingredients that fought for flavor with one another. It almost seemed as though Casey had given up and being in the top three was good enough for her. She looked put out at the final judges table in Chicago-especially when the judges grilled her on her dishes and even more so when the cameras picked up her facial expressions as Hung was being judged. Too bad-up until two weeks ago I was rooting for Casey to win-but I fell off her wagon train when she got to Colorado.

I thought Dale gave a great performance. My only suggestion for Dale would be to cut down on the number of ingredients in his dishes and realize that more isn't always better. What sounds trendy on a menu-Chanterelles, Curry, Lobster, Bacon, Corn and Gnocchi-isn't always better. As the judges mentioned, the curry overpowered the lobster-which Colicchio said was raw. And I really took a long drink of my ice water when I heard Dale say he poached his rack of lamb in Duck Fat. I thought of beautifully sweet, meadow-raised lamb being stewed in fat. Yuck. But the judges loved the technique and resulting flavors. I've printed Dale's lamb recipe off the Top Chef website and once I find a tub of duck fat-I'm on that dish. Dale's passionate speeches about his love of food and cooking along with his performance on the finale really won him a lot of points and I think he's got a great future in the restaurant business.

I've been a fan of Hung's since the start of the show-you're all probably a bit tired of me continually mentioning that dish of Geoduck and Black Chicken that Hung did weeks ago-but from the start I really got on to his creativity. Yes, I know, the technical vs. soul issue has been a hot potato with some of us and I did a lot of writing defending the soul behind Hung's food. But I actually always felt it was his creativity that set his food apart, and I suppose you could argue that is where I found the soul in his food.

I think it was pretty telling that all the judges awarded Hung's Duck as about the best dish they have ever tasted-including Todd English going so far as to call it 'Michelin 3-Star.' Collichio is right-if you look at the number of ingredients in Hung's Duck recipe (posted on the website), there is a lot of stuff in that dish. Yet to the judges, the dish on the plate and on the palate tasted quite simple, yet elegant and memorable.

I think this was about the third time Hung used the Sous-Vide method to cook a protein, but it appears to work well for him as witnessed by the results he's gained from the judges each time he's cooked with Sous-Vide.

The menu description doesn't do justice to the final dish. The website lists Hung's dish as "Duck with Truffle Scented Broth and Mushroom Ragout." Simple enough, but the recipe also has foie gras in the mushroom ragout and the truffle broth is accented with a hint of Asian influence from lemon grass and fresh lime leaves.

Now if that isn't a dish from the 'soul' of a talented, rising-star chef, I don't know what is.

[Slamdunkpro]

Casey was obviously rattled from the start.  Did you catch that interaction with Casey and Michelle Bernstein when they were standing in the pantry area?  I thought Casey sounded like she had just smoked some wild Colorado weed!  Man her sentences were disjointed and she was speaking in broken English.  I couldn't tell what she was thinking-and I don't think she knew what she was thinking or saying. 

Watching the finale again, Casey was exhibiting the classic signs of altitude sickness. Confusion, loss of focus, disjointed speech, and others. If you watch her in several scenes, she's clearly gasping for air and trying to control her breathing. This might be partially a case of nerves but they were at 11,000 feet and altitude sickness can come on after only a short time if you are sensitive to altitude.